The Shape of Things to Come Strategies for Success in the Age of 3D Printing Husch Blackwell LLP
What is 3D Printing and How Does it Work?
State of 3D Printing As of 2014: 80,000 industrial printers worldwide since 1988 140,000 desktop printers sold in 2014 alone 38% of industrial printers are in U.S. Japan is 2 nd China is 3 rd Total market as of 2014: $4.1B (includes prototyping + other non-commercial uses) $2B in products
State of 3D Printing 3D Printing Technologies Blown Powder: Metal powder blown coaxially to the laser beam which melts the particles on a base metal to form a metallurgical bond when cooled Thermal Extrusion: Thermoplastic filaments heated through a nozzle Stereolithography: UV-light
State of 3D Printing 3D Printing Technologies (cont d) Selective Laser Melting (SLM);; Selective Laser Sintering (SLS);; Electron Beam Melting (EBM) Ink-jetting Photopolymer process: Tiny droplets of liquid photopolymer onto a tray & cured with UV-light A laser or electron beam melts or sinters powder (metal or plastic parts)
State of 3D Printing Printer Capabilities 2014: Stratasys unveiled the first color multi-material 3D printer
3D Printer Materials State of 3D Printing
State of 3D Printing Snapshot of the 3D Printer Players
State of 3D Printing 3D Printing Applications Fashion: Food Jewelry Dresses Shoes Aerospace Homes Prototyping Pharmaceutical Medical Hobby Orthopedics/prosthetics Dental implants Prototyping surgical operations/surgical planning Skeletal reconstruction Tissue and organ replication (ear, nose, body parts) Much more
Examples of "Printing" Footwear
Examples of "Printing" Footwear (cont.)
State of 3D Printing Service Providers Connect 3D manufacturers with customers Industrial based/commercial grade products Distinctive network of printers/all technologies Manufacturers execute agreement with service providers Example One service provider: 32 manufacturers using 266 different types of printers
State of 3D Printing Service Providers (cont d) Service provider develops 3D blueprint Manufacturers bid on projects Customer selects Service provider issues license to selected manufacturer Send customer instructions
Impact on Manufacturing No entry barriers Mass customization possible
Impact on Manufacturing Digital scans/digital blueprints replace molds File sharing ramifications Customers replace manufacturers Reduced shipping and production costs Reduced logistic footprint Potential applications (limitless) Product demand drops
Legal Issues $ Regulatory Federal Drug Administration (FDA) Imports/Exports Commercial Contracts Tax Treatment & Accounting of Print-to-Order Revenue Product & Environmental Regulations Higher Education Licensing Agreements Healthcare Product Safety & Warranty Packaging & Transportation Intellectual Property
Manufacturers and Designers Intellectual Property Infringement Patents Trademarks Copyrights Need a Well-Rounded IP Strategy
Patent Landscape USA 60% of 3D patents/patent applications: 2002-2014: 12,000 Pending: ~4,000 Issued: ~8,000 Expiring: 2003-2014: ~225 2013-2014: ~6
Who Are the Players? Intellectual Property Manufacturers of 3D printers Scanners/digital blueprint designers Product manufacturers and designers Customers Distributors
Manufacturers and Designers Intellectual Property Infringement of Patented Product Who is the infringer? Third party fabricator? 3D printer manufacturer? Scanner/creator of digital blueprints? Someone who distributes the digital blueprint? Distributor of product?
Manufacturers and Designers Intellectual Property Infringement of Trademark ( ) Trade Dress Molding vs. Sticker/Ink-printing of Trademarks Molding (advantages/disadvantages) Sticker/Ink-printing (advantages/disadvantages) Infringer can remove trademark
Manufacturers and Designers Intellectual Property Infringement of Copyright ( ) Sculptured works - easier to copy CAD program (engineering drawings) Electronic instructions to 3D printer/digital blueprint Digital blueprint - easy to transmit to anyone 3D printing repositories/databases
Intellectual Property Alternate Ways to Protect Products Copyright for 3D product configuration and software for design? Who owns software, if contract with someone to write code? Trade Dress How we structure patent claims: Scanners Method Claims manufacturing by 3D printing Product by process claims Claims for computer readable storage medium (i.e. digital blueprint) Scanning Method Claims Design patents
Manufacturers & Designers Intellectual Property Risk Analysis: Patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright clearance Use of third party vendors Commissioned works Protection Patent claims Copyright Trade dress Customization New business models Licensing/Partnering agreements Fan of your product
Scanners/Digital Blueprint Designers Intellectual Property Risk analysis: Patent Trademark/trade dress Copyright Protection Indemnification Ownership rights
Risk Analysis: Indemnification Distributors Intellectual Property
Customers/Users of Product Intellectual Property Risk analysis: Patent Trademark/trade dress Copyright Customization: Ownership rights Protection
Questions? Who Are You? Sam Digirolamo Partner samuel.digirolamo@huschblackwell.com 314.345.6225 Dan Cohn Partner dan.cohn@huschblackwell.com 314.345.6252 Sam Digirolamo Dan Cohn